


A Suitable Lie

by rabbitprint



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-21
Updated: 2007-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-07 14:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabbitprint/pseuds/rabbitprint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: one for sorrow: kh2, vexen & demyx, "Go nuts!", 'inherit the earth', requested by poppiesnroses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Suitable Lie

All told, a laboratory was the last place Vexen expected to find a musician.

He discovered the intrusion after lunch, introduced in a series of notes that wound their way through several doors and multiple experiments. At first, Vexen only found himself bewildered. He'd finally managed to rig the laboratories into segregated regions, each with their own neat placard by the door and reinforced observatory windows, and in not a single one of them could he remember turning on a music box.

By the time he finally put down his work and went about hunting down the source, over an hour had gone by without any manner of pause in the tune. If there was a master opera that the piercingly crystalline notes followed, then it was one on a massive scale; more likely, the cause was impromptu, which would have explained the way that the song wandered back and forth in tempo.

He pushed open a final set of doors, and stared at Demyx.

"What," he began, "are you _doing_ here?"

Demyx gave a guilty jerk of his shoulders -- a useless remnant of an expression, Vexen thought sourly, considering their nature as Nobodies. Around the man were several beakers and vials, many of them half-filled with what Vexen could only hope was water. The rims of several were wet; the tinny music must have come from rubbing skin against the slick glass. A primitive sort of orchestra, but one which had responded to the Nocturne nonetheless.

Underneath Vexen's disapproving stare, Demyx offered a sheepish grin. "They say that music can call forth emotions," he explained lamely. "I thought, maybe, it would be worth looking into."

Vexen's lip curled. "They say a lot of things. Charming sentiments that take the place of brains. Music soothes the savage beast. A stitch in time will save you nine. The meek shall inherit the earth -- or was it the weak?" he challenged. "You'd be the one to know, certainly."

Demyx opened his mouth; at first Vexen thought the junior Nobody would dare to argue against authority, and then common sense must have kicked in, because Demyx gave up all attempts at defense in favor of cringing against the floor. "I," he laughed, and the sound was almost real. "I guess you're right. I'll clean up here, I'm, uh. Sorry."

"Oh _no,_" Vexen pressed. Letting Demyx off without a properly stinging lesson might only encourage the Nocturne to sneak back down again into Vexen's personal laboratories without permission, and that sort of intrusion was to be discouraged. Vexen crossed his arms. "What's another phrase the uneducated masses are so fond of?" he sneered. "'Go nuts.' Tell me all about it later, really. I'm sure the Superior would be delighted to hear of your... _scientific_ endeavors."

The corners of Demyx's lips were turning down; if they were two different people, Vexen might have been delighted to have caused regret in the man. They weren't. "But -- "

"I _insist._"

To his credit, Demyx understood the gist of the trap he was being led around, like a mule on a maypole; the man refused to meet Vexen's eyes, even when Vexen attempted to catch them.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled instead, ducking his head. "I'm sorry."

Vexen held his ground for a moment longer, losing interest in the game already now that he'd made his point. "Well," he murmured eventually, unrelenting in his glare just in case Demyx thought himself safe, "I suppose your music did call forth some emotion after all, then -- or at least a suitable lie of one. Congratulations."


End file.
